1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to a method and apparatus for manufacturing raised-brim products, such as pizza, apple pie, or tart cake, and also to a cutting member which enables known apparatus used for manufacturing filled products, such as bean-jam buns, filling-containing dumplings, etc., to readily form raised-brim products.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Pizza is a very popular raised-brim product because of its appealing taste and shapely appearance. Pizza is typically made by covering a circular pizza dough sheet, whose peripheral edge is pinched or folded to form a raised brim, with toppings, such as tomatoes, cheese, ham, mushrooms, sliced onions, and baking it in an oven.
Until very recently pizzas have been produced manually. However, the popularity of pizza and recent developments in frozen-food preservation techniques have helped promote the mechanized mass-production of pizza.
The conventional method for mechanized pizza production consists of two steps, namely, forming a dough sheet, and then covering the dough sheet with toppings. In a conventional apparatus for making a raised-brim pizza, the step of forming a dough sheet is performed by stamping an appropriately-sized dough ball or a properly-shaped dough sheet, and then processing the dough sheet to form a dough base with a raised brim. Subsequently, the step of covering the inside of the raised-brim dough base with various kinds of toppings or fillings is performed.
The conventional apparatus mentioned above merely automates the two steps of the manual manufacturing process, and requires numerous sub-steps to form the raised-brim pizza dough base. As a result, the conventional apparatus must utilize large-scale machinery.
Similar problems arise in the mechanized mass-production of other raised-brim products, such as apple pies or tarts. In particular, many steps are required to form pie dough or tart dough, both of which containing oils and fats and being viscoelastic, into a raised-brim base by hand or by mechanical molds, and then in pouring fillings, such as apple slices or cream, etc. into the hollow of the raised-brim base.